I had made a lot of prejudgements of Africa before the trip and it looking a lot like The Lion King was one of them.
I would've happily stayed on the flight there a lot longer. I'm not sure if that's because the sunrise over Africa was so beautiful to look at or because I knew I would be completely leaving my comfort zone in my comfy bed, back home in Halesowen.
A long drive to the camp took us to a 'service station' in the middle of nowhere. At the time my Lion King idea was fairly accurate as we watched a load of Ostrich, Buffalo, Zebras and Rhinos gathered by a watering hole. The other half of the drive was a little surreal and the journey was made interesting by the views out the window. But oh how the contrast was immeasurable. Imagine one moment seeing what looked like a lively Vegas strip - casinos, clubs, hotels and even a Hooters. No more than 5 minutes later on the same side of the road seeing a couple hundred shacks all cramped together in a small space, completely lifeless.
As we stepped out the van and into the embrace of our new family at Ten Thousand Homes, us British were overwhelmed with how many hugs we were receiving. They welcomed us, for real. I knew I wasn't going to be in Africa by myself but I guess I never really imagined how much of afamily everyone was going to be.
God pushed me into the deep end on the very first day when me and a few others were going straight to do a home visit in a local community, and then to afterwards help at a feeding programme in a different community. Again I remembered how my comfort zone was in my bed, way back at home in Halesowen and how much I wanted to reunite with it. As soon as we got to the home, the 4 year old, son ran up to us and hugged our knees. As soon as we got out the trucks in the community we were subject to many hugs, hand holding and piggy backs. Although most of the children didn't understand or speak English, I found something so beautiful in loving on these children and just communicating through showing love instead of speaking it.
I've always found something really unnerving about hospitals and they scare me so much, so when the opportunity to visit one came along and I thought I might as well, God showed me that there was an even deeper end, and yeah he pushed me right in. Around 40 children on the ward all with different problems and severities. I felt like an absolute melon to start with, what do you say or do with a child that doesn't understand you and is in too much pain to play? You find yourself either high-fiving them or talking to them anyway, although they look at you funny.
We were all deeply moved by a 2/3 year old sitting in the corner sitting awkwardly on his bed. I've never seen a face so numb, we couldn't make him smile, talk or even look at us. The blanket on his back slipped down and our sympathy grew even deeper as we saw the large burns covering his back. The expression on his face changed from nothingness to an expression of pain. His face winced up with pain and our winced up with tears. We prayed and spent time comforting him and by the time we had to leave, he released a small smile. His name was Blessing.
1 Peter 2:9 says "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." The Day of Royalty was the day we devoted every inch of love we had in our bodies into the children's lives, by giving them the bestest most fun day ever! I walked with a little girl to take her to the bouncy castles and she stopped and turned to me and said "I love you white people". Our job was done as the little ones left the camp declaring that they were kings, queens, princes, princesses, special possessions and God's treasure.
After a 7am breakfast we were told that everyone on team was going to chip into building a temporary home for a girl who desperately needed it. I'd met the girl briefly on the first day I was there and she was so full of shame, her background was heart-breaking and her head remained fixed on the ground, it was a challenge to change her expression. In all honesty I wasn't excited at all because I didn't believe that building was my cup of tea and this was way out of my comfort zone. But at that moment God reminded me that my comfort zone was still in bed in Halesowen and I got to work digging for the cornerstone of her home. The degrees was in the thirties and shade was nowhere to be seen but everyone pitched in and the family spirit was still present within the team. Only a couple days later and the home was complete. Not only was there a home for this girl but you could see that there was a hope as well. Another one of my favourite moments was the girl and her friend dancing around in her new home with the biggest smile on her face and posing for photos. Never have I ever felt so overwhelmed with joy because of the joy I'd seen in someone else.
Although this is only some of my 'stand out' moments no one could've prepared the team for the things we'd see and the stories we'd hear and all my prejudgements of Africa soon disappeared as each day was a new adventure. God cast out any anxieties and worries I had and didn't just comfort me, but stretched me so that I'd never be the same again. I know now that when I step out into the unknown, I am reminded that its not unknown to God and he wouldn't put me there if there was not a blessing to be received. Lastly we spent one evening telling each person in the team what we saw and appreciated in them, I find that kind of thing very cringey so I just kept my head down. I'll never forget the first thing someone said about me was "Emily, you've been really brave on this trip". This touched me as I began to see all the times in the past I'd ran back and hid in my comfort zone missing out on opportunities... And then I saw how much God had blessed me and used me when I left the comfort zone at home and just trusted in Him.
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